Four Tips to Increase Machine Performance
We shared some basic tips on improving machine shop efficiency in a recent blog with a focus on routine and philosophy. Today we will dive deeper into the machine side of things since in today’s shop the equipment performs most of the work. Here are four tips to increase machine performance in your machine shop.
Automation seems complex to establish and self-sufficient once installed, but the truth is the opposite. Automation requires consistent maintenance, assessment, and improvement. Setup can be phased in over time, automating one process at a time, and heavy support from both machine and software suppliers makes it achievable. It is important to take a step back from automation, however, when assessing efficiency to be sure basic manufacturing principles are understood and applied.
1. Lean Manufacturing Principles
Lean manufacturing focuses on removing non-value-added components from any process. It reduces waste and increases productivity through continued evaluation. The key attributes defined by Womak and Jones are 1) defining value, 2) mapping the value stream, 3) creating flow, 4) using a pull system, and 5) pursuing perfection. It lends itself beyond the shop floor to teams, inventory management, and inter-departmental relationships.
With a focus on machines and tools, the latest applications for lean manufacturing include ideas such as cellular manufacturing where similar parts are grouped to utilize the same equipment and production runs. This results in less setup time with continued use of raw materials and tools, for example. Inventory, machines, and tools can all be carefully located together on the shop floor as well.
The advances of data-driven Industry 4.0 may naturally resolve lean manufacturing principles such as value stream by virtue of their function, but it makes lean thinking even more important when planning production. Once automated, it’s easy to assume no improvements can be made. Be sure to be striving for that #5 perfection standard which may mean adding software, upgrading equipment, or simply re-assessing the tooling process for a given part.
2. Push Your Machines and Tooling Hard
The full value of CNC machines is often not tested on the shop floor. They truly are high-performance machines, like racecars, driven at normal highway speeds. The new 60,000 RPM machines are a big step up from 8,000–15,000 RPM just ten years ago. Integrated parts like spindles, cutting tools, servo systems, CNC and CAM systems all working together create a template for speed and precision that can make dramatic change inefficiencies.
High-speed machining is more than simply speed. A CNC machine requires the appropriate support to calculate tool path and spindle speed to deliver the precision needed. It took some time to adjust to the idea of productivity increases with shallower, faster cuts, and now the same mental shift is needed to recognize the near impossibility of a crash with sensors, 3D modelling, and simulation software to program a high-speed machine.
A machine sitting idle is one of the biggest overhead costs to a machine shop. Not using it to its full capacity is a close second. The faster it can produce, the more work a machine shop can take on.
